Learning Edge

We had a wonderful week of celebrating another year of hard work at Learning Edge Tutoring. Our students and their tutors and families all enjoyed our annual end-of-year pizza party and award ceremonies. We are so grateful for the way our community shows up in support of these amazing students and we are SO PROUD of how the students show up, put in the hard work, and learn and grow throughout the year.

Students, don’t forget to read through the summer (check out Bernadette’s BINGO cards if you need inspiration), have fun, and be safe. And remember: Learning Doesn’t Stop When School Does! We’ll see you in the fall!

Calling all Learning Edge high school students! Don't miss this Financial Literacy workshop with Byline Bank's Judette Kurasz, taking place this Thursday at First United Church of Oak Park.

Do YOU have what it takes to *edge* out the competition?!

Learning Edge is hosting our first ever fundraising event: a Trivia Night! We hope you'll join us!

Who: You and 3-5 of your smartest friends. (must be 21+)
What: Trivia, drinks, heavy apps, and a good time for a good cause.
When: Wednesday, April 29 at 7pm
Where: Robert's Westside
Why: Proceeds support free one-to-one tutoring, mentoring, and academic enrichment programming.

https://shorturl.at/hDJyV

Today’s the day! Learning Edge earns a slice 🍕 of the proceeds when you go to today and use our code: GPFUND26

Thanks for supporting our mission and enjoy your pizza!

Alma, like many of our tutors, heard about us from a friend. Both she and her daughter joined our tutoring ranks to help students like Jenae get off the waitlist and into the program.

Jenae, a fourth grader at that time, said, “when I first got here I didn’t think I needed tutoring.” Three and a half years in, Jenae has reversed her thinking and instead listed ways Alma, her tutor and mentor, has helped her succeed.

Specifically, Jenae was able to point to various ways her confidence has grown alongside her academic skills. The pair reads together often, and every time they come across a word in a book that Jenae doesn’t know, they create flashcards with a definition and a hand-drawn picture. At school, Jenae’s class does a lot of “popcorn reading,” a turn-taking practice in which one student reads aloud for a bit before it popcorns to the next student. “I practice reading so much with Alma that now I feel ready when it’s my turn,” said Jenae.

In addition to “a diligent student, a strong reader,” Alma describes Jenae as “mature, well-mannered, and put together.” Jenae said she aims to look great wherever she goes– she even “stresses” over her outfits for tutoring nights. She went on to explain that her self-assurance goes beyond her clothing: with Alma’s encouragement, she has been using a stronger voice and speaking up more, as she can tend to be soft spoken.

The pair also talked about how they’ve grown closer throughout their time together. Alma spoke of a shared sense of humor and a shared love of puzzles (“we like puzzles a little TOO much,” Jenae confirmed as they both giggled).

Alma said that one thing they’ve been able to address as a team is the constant rising expectations that come with middle school. “I’m comfortable telling her things that I am having a problem with in life, or struggling with,” explained Jenae.

At Learning Edge, Jenae has found both confidence and a confidant. And *we're* confident that as academic expectations continue to rise, this pair will continue to meet them– and Jenae will look great doing it.

Jayden, a very tall, self-possessed, and witty ninth grader, said he was only *just this tall* when he started working with Mim as a kindergartner. Mim Geraghty, his tutor and mentor, described the daunting stack of index cards they employed for word recognition activities at that time as the same height. Jayden laughed and explained that “those cards were what got our relationship going!” He continued, “the relationship grew, the work got hard, and we’re still going.”

These two have been through it all over the course of their ten years together. They’ve progressed through the typical skill-building of elementary school work to addressing the higher-level assignments of Jayden’s high school courses. They’ve also seen one another through life’s challenges, evolutions, and joys. Last year, Mim went to Jayden’s 8th grade graduation. “He came across the stage and the crowd went wild,” said Mim. “He is very well loved by teachers and students.”

Jayden has the advantage of coming from a family of educators, with a mom who taught Special Education and an auntie who teaches Math. Both Mim and Jayden attribute much of Jayden’s academic achievement and executive functioning skills to these powerhouse influences in his life; Mim is proud to be in their company as another resource and long-standing friend.

Like many of our student-tutor pairs, their mentorship has grown to where they feel comfortable fitting in an extra tutoring session when needed. Mim always prioritizes seeing Jayden around his birthday, they’ve gone on fun adventure outings, and they keep in touch during the summer, typically taking the annual opportunity to select a novel to read together. “We Facetime and take turns reading until Jayden gets tired or has to eat something,” Mim explained as Jayden threw his head back in embarrassment.

It's fun to watch, one week at a time, as a tutoring mentorship grows--as did the once tiny child. “Jayden is kind of a dream student–he is very diligent and he’s extremely funny,” said Mim. “I look forward to seeing him each week.”

Check out this opportunity for additional educational supports in Austin:

What About Us Inc. provides after-school programming to youth 7th through 12th grade with sessions providing personalized literacy, basic life skills and activities, homework help, enrichment activities, and more.

Akayla has been a student at Learning Edge Tutoring since third grade, when her mom signed up both her and her recently-graduated sister Akeelah. “I struggled with reading and was below grade level,” Akayla explained. “My tutor helped me a lot and Learning Edge provided books, so I started getting into reading more, which made it easier for me in school.”

Now seven years in, Akayla is in high school and the work has leveled up. Last year, Akayla began working with Stan Faust, a returning tutor. Akayla has had successes and growth with both of her tutors, and she expressed gratitude for it.

It is quickly apparent that Stan, who came back to support our program when he retired from a 33-year teaching career in high school history, is a master educator. He knows his stuff and he wants to share it. He is guided by evidential practice; He spoke about trends in education and best practices in reading. And, as any top-notch educator need be to succeed with teens, he is also goofy and approachable.

When it comes to Akayla, he defers all credit to her brain, professionalism, and work ethic. “She’s a great student,” said Stan, before confirming, “Your mom said you had all As again last semester?”

When Akayla named a way that Stan has helped her, Stan, in turn, made clear he was merely a coach who was proud to help fine-tune Akayla’s natural talents and cheer for her successes. Regarding reading: “She has great ideas, I just helped organize them.” Regarding study skills: “There isn’t an 8th grader in the world who doesn’t want to make the page glow, so yes, we learned to identify what really matters.” Regarding math: “Yes, math is getting hard, but she works harder.”

Akayla’s tutors have modeled lifelong learning, instilled a love of reading, and helped Akayla develop more pride and confidence in her work and her capabilities. Executive Director Kara Kalnitz was struck when, earlier in the year, Akayla excitedly self-reported her good grades. We’re thrilled to see how bright Akayla shines with the right cheerleader/coach in her corner.